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Saturday, May 16, 2009

WHAT ARE PEOPLE GONNA THINK?

Elders and preachers find ourselves in variational situations day in and day out regarding decisions and directions for the flock. One of the notable differences I have experienced over the my later years at Memorial compared to my earlier ones is the ability for leaders to weigh opportunities against God-possibilities rather than who would be upset within the flock.

We once experienced assembly after assembly when anything out of the decent and in order caused all of us to wince....wondering just who many and how many didn't like it. Walk in. Sit down. Opening prayer. Blah-blah-blah. Closing prayer. Relief! No hits. No runs. But certainly no errors.

The whole thing was often an error. We hadn't worshipped God. We had checked off all five items and returned to our abodes feeling quite self-assured. Ladies and gentlemen....we have once again pulled off church without a hitch. But God wasn't in the picture. Our keeping everything in line was.

It is most freeing to realize that when we don't get everything precisely accurate or when there might be a mis-statement or questionable moment....love overrides pestering panic. We are a blessed people and can take a shot at letting Him know of our gratitude. Some raise their hands in praise while others sit on theirs. No problem to either preferencer. We belong to God and to one another.

What are people going to think when we try a quirky sounding ministry or allow the abnormal situation during the assembly? People are going to think we must be crazy about the Living Lord for everyone fits....in every effort...in every setting...because we make continual concerted team effort to lavishly praise God. Expressiveness is encouraged; not repressed.

Church in all of its glorious facets isn't about what people are gonna think. It is about how much God hears of great love from His people.

Terry Rush

My World

We all get lost in our workaholism, people pleasing, and numbing behaviors as we try to escape the pain of life and the messiness of loving others. But some of us appear more whole than others, and that may be the greatest danger of all. It results in the last addiction: we rely on ourselves to heal ourselves, and so we miss the healing path.

Sharon Hersh...The Last Addiction

I miss being in the company of risky and complex thinkers, people who are invested in our culture and who challenge me to think to the edges of my comfort zones. I believed then and I believe now that where everybody thinks the same nobody thinks very much.Rosaria Butterfield...The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert